


About Her

by SpriceThePrice



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Amnesia, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fallout: New Vegas - Freeform, First Person, Fluff, Legion - Freeform, New Vegas, Slow Burn, Vulpes and Courier Six, six years later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-30 04:30:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10153688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpriceThePrice/pseuds/SpriceThePrice
Summary: Six years after the events at Hoover Dam, Courier Six finds herself in The Commonwealth trying to find her place in the world. After all this time, she's finally accepting all the wrong that she's done in her life and trying to make up for it by assisting the Sole Survivor. But, her world is turned upside down when she's forced to return to the Mojave to face her past, the new task at hand, and someone that she had left behind... the one and only, Vulpes Inculta.Story title and the story itself inspired by the song, "About Her" - Malcolm Mclaren.





	1. Christmas Eve

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter may seem shitty but I needed somewhat of a starting point! Forgive me, it's been a LONG time.

The Commonwealth, December 24th, 2287.

 

Today started out like every other ordinary day. The sunlight invaded my bedroom, awakening me from my drunken slumber caused from the night before. A soft breeze, calming breeze caused the Minutemen flag that I had nailed over my window as a pathetic excuse for curtains, to whirl around, allowing unwanted sunlight to hit my face. Voices from the settlers who also lived here at Sanctuary Hills, going about their day, became clearer and clearer as they walked by my windowless house. Diamond City radio echoed throughout my one bedroom home that Sole had gifted me. Sole being Amber, the Sole Survivor from Vault 111, the general of The Minutemen, The savior of the Commonwealth, and Shaun’s mom. 

When I first met Amber, she was leaving the Memory Den in Goodneighbor with her new recruit/companion, RJ MacCready. We were lured to one another, and I’m still not exactly sure why. Maybe it was the fact that we resembled one another, maybe it was the vault suits we both wore, or maybe it was the look of despair that we both shared. 

She was desperately trying to find her son all while trying to accept that she was now well over 200 years old and in a wasteland that she had once called “home”. Me on the other hand? I was alone… travelling from wasteland to wasteland, hoping that maybe someday my memory from before I was shot in the head back in 2281 would somehow come back to me. It didn’t… it still hasn’t… and it probably never will.

The three of us had drinks at the Third Rail that night, getting too drunk and literally putting everything out on the table. Both Mac and Sole were parents, sole being a widow and Mac being a widower. Mac was from the Capital Wasteland, somewhere I had visited shortly after leaving the Mojave. Amber informed Mac and I that where we were from were called, “Las Vegas, Nevada” and “Washington, D.C” back before the bombs fell in 2077. 

Sole was the most interesting person I had met in the last six years, and frankly, she was the only real friend I’ve had since leaving behind the friends I once had back home. She had a purpose here, Mac had a purpose here, and I didn’t… until December 1st, 2287, the day Sole and the Minutemen blew up the Institute. 

Naturally, given my past, it all felt natural to me. For the first time in years, I felt like I was Courier fucking Six again, and not some random wastelander. For years I’ve felt nothing but emptiness inside of me. But when we invaded the Institute and I watched Sole say her final goodbye to her son, the director of the Institute, I felt sorrow. Then when I watched sole detonate the Institute, I felt pride. 

This was my life now: A member of the Minutemen by day, and a Settler in Sanctuary Hills by night. I was looked up to here in the Commonwealth, respected. No one here knew about my life back ‘home’. Everyone here thought that the legend of Courier Six was nothing more than a tale Deacon would tell the settlers at “Nate’s bar” here in Sanctuary. It wasn’t until after the defeat of the Institute that people started gossiping, assuming that I was the infamous Courier Six. Mac and Sole knew, but out of respect for me, they never told anyone.

The rumors were true… I was everything that Deacon said I was and then some… I am Courier fuckin’ Six.

 

“Six?!” A young boy’s voice called from outside my house, awakening me from my thoughts and forcing me to finally get up and out of bed, “Six?! Are you awake?”

“What’s the matter, Shaun?” I asked, pulling back the Minutemen flag and looking out the window at Shaun.

“Danse and mom are back from their trip to Vault 88! They brought back Christmas lights!” Shaun exclaimed, “I’m coming in, okay?”

I winced as the splitting headache that I’ve been nursing in bed, stung and reminded me of it’s presence, “Yeah, come on inside, kiddo.” Reluctantly, I slowly made my out of my bedroom and into the livingroom. 

The house Sole had given me was right next door to her home that she had lived in back before the bombs. It was nice, small, and secluded. Mutfruit was being grown in the backyard and the bridge to Vault 111 was my drinking place that was conveniently a short walking distance away from my house. 

“Codsworth said you were feeling under the weather, whatever that means.” Shaun stated as he plopped down on my couch and played with the working pip-boy that his mother had brought back from Vault 88 for him. 

Nodding, I chugged back a can of purified water and gasped as I pulled the can away from my lips, “Yeah, something like that.”

“Are you excited for Christmas, Six?!” Shaun asked, glancing up from his pip-boy. 

‘No…’ I thought.

“Are you?” I asked instead. 

Shaun shrugged, “We never celebrated Christmas in the Institute, so I’m very excited!”

My heart ached for Shaun at that very moment. He was unaware that he was a synth, a boy that may never age. Sole didn’t care though… she knew that Danse would always be there for Shaun and that eventually she would make sure Shaun was prepared for the wasteland… and that she would tell him the truth about his identity. A part of me is glad that there isn’t any other children in Sanctuary Hills… because he’s going to notice someday when Duncan arrives from the Capital Wasteland and only one of them grows up. Poor kid. 

“I don’t remember if I’ve ever celebrated Christmas…” I admitted, frowning at the fact that I couldn’t remember my memories, let alone remember who I really was before Benny shot me in the head six years ago.

“The others said you don’t remember much of anything… I don’t remember much, either…” Shaun said softly, confusion spreading across his face.

“Hey…” I started, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder, “I guess you’re just like me then, kiddo.”

Shaun smiled, “I guess so.”

“Three in the afternoon?” I groaned, staring down at my pip-boy. “Damn…”

“You slept in again, Six. C’mon! Get dressed and meet us by the big tree! Mom’s gonna hang the lights for Christmas tomorrow!” 

“Yay…” I mumbled.

"Mom said that Christmas is supposed to be spent with your family and friends, do you have any family Six?" Shaun asked.

I shook my head, "None that I can remember, no."

"Oh, I guess hey?" Shaun replied. "What about a boyfriend? Or husband? My Mom was married to my dad before he died... now she's with MacCready. I'm sad about my dad... he died when I was just a baby...but, I really like Mac, he makes my mom happy." 

A sick feeling twisted my stomach in knots as my mind wandered back to the time in my life that I remember, the only time in my life that I remember. The one person that I can remember so vividly... him. 

"No," I lied, flashing him a weak smile. 

"Well, you have us. We're your family," Shaun said warmly. Such a smart boy for such a young age. 

 

When Shaun left, I stepped outside to see if maybe Codsworth was around to get someone to fetch me a couple buckets of purified water so I could have a bath. Luckily for me, Codsworth was floating his way over toward my house. 

“Miss Six!” He greeted cheerfully, “You will be happy to know that Mum has managed to get the ol’ plumbing working again!”

“What? How?” I questioned in disbelief.

“Something to do with the water purifying system, I believe,” Codsworth answered, unsure of how she did it.

“Well, I’ll be fucked…” I laughed, lifting my brows, “Is there anything she can’t do?”

“Very little, Miss Six.” Codsworth replied proudly.

“Haven’t had clean water to bathe myself in for years,” I laughed, folding my arms across my chest.

“Yes, well, now thanks to Mum, you can.” 

I nodded, “Thanks Coddy for letting me know,”

“Yes…” Codsworth hummed, “Shall I wait for you to be ready?”

“Nah, I’m good,” I waved him away before heading back inside and testing out Sole’s latest accomplishment.

______________________________ 

“General, that message didn’t just come from anyone, it came from Elder Maxson...” Preston huffed, watching as Amber spun around in her swivvle chair.

She pursed her lips and ran her fingers through her long dark brown hair, clearly in deep thought, “I don’t know what to do… I-I- I haven’t really spoke to him since after we took down the Institute…”

“And?” He questioned, cocking a brow.

“He wasn’t exactly thrilled that his one of his Paladin’s were stepping down from their rank in the Brotherhood to become the General of another faction…” She muttered, chewing on the inside of her bottom lip.

“How he treated Danse was inexcusable, General. You did the right thing,” Preston assured her.

She nodded, “But… why now? Why is he bothering me about this?” 

“Well… the letter said something about the remains of the Brotherhood chapter in the Mojave…Naturally he’s going to come to you for help-” Preston started.

“And why is that?” She questioned, cutting him short.

“Because of Courier Six being here,” He replied. 

“How did you-”

“It’s no secret, General… We all know who she is,” He answered before she could ask.

“Still!” Amber exclaimed, “Six hasn’t been to the Mojave in what, years? He should send a team from the Brotherhood to help, not one of mine-”

“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping inside of Sole’s office that was kitty-corner to her home. 

Both of them stared at me like a couple of shaken up Radstag’s. Amber was the first to say a mumbled ‘hey’, before handing me a letter. I stared at the two of them suspiciously as I sat down on a chair and began to read the letter. 

“Yours truly, Arthur?” I asked, cocking a brow up at Sole.

She clicked her jaw to the side and looked away from Preston and I, “I’ll tell you later…”

“What exactly is it that he’s asking from us?” I asked, glancing down at the letter again.

“He wants to make contact with the Brotherhood that’s in the Mojave,” Sole explained, cracking her knuckles, “Er… what’s left of them, anyway.”

“He’s completely insane if he thinks Six is going to help him,” Preston piped up.

“And where do we come in?” I asked, choosing to ignore Preston.

Sole chuckled in disbelief, “He thinks you know where they are!”

“What…” I whispered.

“I know right?! Just because you lived there doesn’t mean you know-”

“I do know where they are… or were…” I cut her off.

“Doesn’t matter,” She sighed, “We do not owe him or any of the brotherhood fuck all!”

“General…”

“Fuck it, we don’t! I was the one who was involved with the Brotherhood, not Six.” She hissed, “How arrogant and self entitled can he be?!”

“I was too…” I admitted, watching as both of their expressions change, “Kind of anyway… I uh, know someone who can help get in contact with them.”

“Six…” Sole started.

I shook my head, “It’s okay… it really is. It’s time I make a trip back there, anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Preston pressed, “The General is right… we don’t owe Maxson or The Brotherhood shit!”

I nodded, “Positive.”

“Well… that settles it....” Sole sighed, “Six and I will make our way to the castle. We’ll get supplies and then make our way to the airport and up to the Prydwen.”

“We’ll talk to Maxson and figure out what he wants me to do then you’ll make your way back here,” I planned.

Sole laughed, “Back here?”

I laughed too, “Well you ain’t comin’ with me,”

“Six…” She sighed, “You’re not going alone…”

“Trust me,” I chuckled, “It ain’t my first rodeo.”

Sole pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek and nodded slightly, “Of course, I forgot who I was talking to… Courier.”

A smirk spread across both of our faces while Preston shrugged, realizing that nothing he could say was going to change my mind. Instead he just stood up and cleared his throat.

“Alright you two, let’s focus on the task at hand here first,” 

“Which is?” Sole asked, turning her head in his direction.

Preston flashed a smile, “Our first Christmas eve in Sanctuary!”

Sole and I groaned, neither of us wanting to climb the old tree in the center of Sanctuary’s cul de sac to hang lights around it. But, we knew that neither of us had a choice, especially since everyone was pulling their weight around here today preparing for Christmas tomorrow. We had no choice.

“Have a nice climb, ladies.” Preston teased as he strode out of Sole’s office.

“Meet me for a drink near the vault tonight,” Sole demanded rather than asked.

I nodded and stood up, “Alright, ready to go hang lights and possibly watch me fall and crack my head open?”

Sole smirked as she followed me outside, “Eh… from what I hear, that head of yours can take a lot.”

I snorted/half laughed, “You got that right.”


	2. The Lonely Shepherd

The commotion from Sanctuary’s Christmas eve celebration was slowly starting to die down as people started to make their way to their homes and call it a night. I had managed to slip away sometime after dinner. Ever since then I’ve been sitting on an uncomfortable ass rock a few away from the vault, smoking musty cigarettes and drinking aged whiskey, staring down at the lights from Sanctuary. 

Even though my throat was becoming sore due to the many cigarettes I’ve had in the past three hours alone, the whiskey was somehow managing to soothe my throat rather than burn it. But I didn’t care enough to really even notice. My mind was too busy being focused on the “mission” in the Mojave that I’m going to be doing for Elder Maxson. 

At least… that’s what I was _trying_ to focus on. 

No matter how hard I tried to not think about the many events that occurred back home six years ago, I couldn’t help but reminisce about that time in my life. Especially since it’s really the only time in my life that I can remember. 

That time in my life was pretty interesting, and when I say interesting I mean insane. It all started when Benny shot me in the head. There I was, a clueless eighteen-year-old glorified fucking mailman, hired to deliver a package to the New Vegas strip. Instead, I was on my hands and knees before Benny, along with four “Great Khans” members, and the fifth ‘man’ digging a grave. 

I may not remember my childhood or anything from before…but I remember that night. **_The night that what seemed like a simple delivery job, turned horribly fucking wrong._**

 

_I awoke with a start, my icy grey colored eyes fluttered open. I had no idea where I was or who had brought me there; all I remembered was watching the sun go down before being knocked unconscious unexpectedly. Blinking dully, I turned my head to examine my surroundings, noticing the man in the checkered blazer that had knocked me unconscious as well as a random man digging a shallow looking grave. My breathing quickened as everything started to come back to me._

_“You got what you were after, so pay up!” A deep, unfamiliar voice demanded._

_“You’re crying in the rain, pally” A smooth talking voice replied._

_My back was killing me from being slouched forward-unconscious-in a kneeling position. I examined my wrists that were bound with rope. Grunting, I tried to break free, but it was no use._

_“Guess who’s wakin’ up over here?” A gruff voice chuckled, causing me to stop what I was doing almost instantly._

_My chest heaved in and out as I slowly raised my head and stared up at the men before me. I swallowed the hard lump that had formed in my throat, watching the man in the checkered blazer inhale one last drag from his cigarette before flicking it to the ground and putting it out with the toe of his shiny black dress shoe._

_“Time to cash out,” He said coolly, striding over to me._

_“Will you get it over with already?” The deep voice man sighed in annoyance._

_The man in the checkered blazer held up a finger, silencing the nagging Khan, “Maybe Khan’s kill people without looking them in the face… but I don’t, dig?”_

_My body trembled as the man reached into the inside pocket of his blazer and pulled out the platinum chip, holding it up, “You’ve made your last delivery, kid.”_

_Confusion struck me and before I was fully able to process what was happening, he slipped his hand back inside of his jacket and pulled out a shiny pistol instead._

_“Sorry you got twisted up in this scene,” He shrugged, a whimper escaping my mouth._

_“From where you’re kneeling must seem like an 18 karat run of bad luck,” He continued, pausing to point the gun at my head, “Truth is… **The game was rigged from the start”** _

 

“Six?!” Sole’s startled voice called out as I yelped at the vivid memory of what happened when Benny pulled the trigger.

I shook my head and clicked my jaw to the side, “Yeah… hey”

“You alright?” She winced.

I nodded, “I’m good.”

“You sure?” She pressed, sitting down beside me on the rock.

I took another swig of whiskey before handing the bottle to her, “Are YOU okay?”

Sole smirked as she brought the bottle to her lips and chugged back the whiskey. She made a face as she swallowed and then handed me back the bottle, “If I close my eyes long enough… I can see a very pregnant me decorating the tree. Codsworth is humming along to the Christmas music as he preps the turkey for Christmas dinner. Nate’s behind me, arms wrapped around my round stomach as he whispers in my ear telling me how beautiful I look. The snow is falling and I’m in complete bliss.”

A frown formed on my face as I watched her slowly open her eyes again and blink back a few tears, “Then I open my eyes and he’s gone… Shaun’s gone… and everything is changed.”

“I’m sorry Amber…” I said softly, feeling nothing but sadness for her.

“I killed my son, Six…” She whimpered.

“You saved the Commonwealth,” I corrected.

“I’m a monster…” She retorted.

“No, Amber. You’re not… you’re a hero.” 

“I’m still a bad person,” She exhaled a shaky breath. 

I snorted, “If you’re a bad person then I’m the fuckin’ devil herself.”

“From what I’ve been told, Courier Six was quite the hero.” She stated coolly.

I winced, “Eh… heavy on the ‘was’”

“You gotta tell me now,” She giggled.

“I got bored after everything…” I explained shortly, hoping that would be good enough for her.

“How so?” 

“I got emotionally invested in a very bad man,” I replied, taking another swig of whiskey.

It was like Sole could sense my discomfort so she didn’t pry at me with any more questions. Instead, she just nodded and laughed as she stared off into the distance. 

“Well, don’t feel bad... You know the end of that letter Maxson sent?” She chuckled.

“Yeah?”

“I use to fuck Maxson…” She admitted, causing me to spit a mouthful of whiskey out. “Hey! He’s attractive!”

I leaned my head to the side and nodded in agreement, “I’ll give him that. Maxson’s hot.”

“He’s also a terrible person,” She added.

I rolled my eyes, “Believe me… Maxson is a saint compared to who I was involved with.”

“Raider?”

“Nope.”

“Gunner?”

“No Gunner’s in the Mojave.”

“Hmm… Merc?”

“Nah,”

“A member of a faction that nobody approves of?” 

I couldn’t help but laugh faintly, “Was.”

“Don’t feel bad… my son was the fucking director of a faction that nobody approves of.” She breathed a shaky sigh.

“Ain’t that a kick in the head…” I grumbled under my breath, becoming too drunk to take this conversation seriously.

_______________________________ 

** December 27th, 2287  **

“Ah, good morning General!” Ronnie Shaw greeted, glaring at me in disgust, “I see you brought your smart ass friend-”

“Good morning, how is everything?” Sole asked, cutting her off.”

“Mornin’ Ronnie, good to see your old ass hasn’t croaked yet,” I greeted sweetly. 

She glared at me and Sole clicked her jaw to the side. A satisfied smirk crept across my face as I brushed past the two of them and headed inside of the castle. Of course, naturally, I was nursing a hangover from staying up on watch all night while Sole slept in the remnants of what used to be an apartment building. 

I figured since Sole would probably be busy here for awhile, that I’d try sleep off this hangover before we make our way to the airport. Yawning, I plopped down on the bed and reached inside of my pack, pulling out my infamous NCR Ranger Duster and used it as an extra ‘blanket’. I’ve yet to get used to the weather here. I’m always shivering and cold, wishing that the Commonwealth was as warm as the Mojave is. 

_Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter_

Smiling to myself, I lay back and yawn, eventually drifting off to sleep.

 

_“They’re right about you… what the hell am I doing?! Stay the fuck away from me!”_

_He took a step closer, completely disregarding what I had just said. My eyes closed and my mouth fell agape as his lips brushed against my cheek, his warm breath sending shivers up my spine._

_“Do you find me sadistic?” He spoke, pulling me flush against his chest with one hand and brushing his fingers through my long, raven colored hair with his free hand._

_“You’re evil…” I whispered softly._

_“And that frightens you, my love?” he asked, nipping at my earlobe._

_I gulped, “No.”_

_He chuckled smugly, “Perhaps it could just be that you see yourself in me?”_

_“I’m nothing like you,” I hissed between gritted teeth._

_“Oh, but you are, my love…”_

 

When Sole awoke me, I was frantic, gasping for air, unaware of my surroundings. If she hadn’t already grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me, my survival instincts probably would have kicked in and I would have accidentally kicked her away from me.

“Six! Six!” She repeated, shaking me, “You were having another bad dream”

“Six wake up!”

“What?!” I panted, finally coming to.

Sole sighed, “Thank God.”

“What?” 

“I came to tell you that we don’t have to travel to the airport now… Maxson must have got word that we were here. He’s arrived here unexpectedly in a vertibird.” She explained, playing with her messy styled braid.

“Does he know that I’m going alone?”

Sole began to nod but winced instead, “...I’m coming with you.”

“For fuck sakes,” I growled, sitting up in bed and holding my head in my hands, “You can’t”

“Why not?”

“Because!” I exclaimed, “I’m literally the last person you want to be caught with there!”

“...Six”

“Just… trust me.” 

Sole sighed, “How is this going to work-”

“I’ll have to track them,” I cut her off, “It’s going to take time to locate my sources. If I’m not back in three months time… then at least you’ll know that I’m dead.”

Sole frowned but shrugged, “Fair enough… Maxson will have a vertibird at the location you’re dropped off at, in exactly three months time. If you’re not there… well… then I know…”

“You ready?” She asked as we both stood up.

Chewing on my bottom lip absentmindedly, I nodded, “Ready as I’ll ever be…” 

“Hey Courier,” Sole called out, stopping me dead in my tracks, “-here!”

I turned on my heel and caught my NCR Ranger duster that she tossed at me. A familiar feeling suddenly coming to me as I slipped the tattered coat on; a feeling of both pride and honor. 

**“Time to go home…”**


	3. Some Habits Die Hard

** Freeside, December 31st, 2287  **

Not much had really changed in the few years that I’ve been gone. Freeside was still the same - rough - perhaps even rougher than it was when I left. My once dearest friend, Arcade Gannon, had been supportive of my choice to make an independent New Vegas. Hence why when I left, Arcade moved into the Lucky 38 to take care of things. 

I wasn’t ready to face him yet, so I stopped in and visited ‘The King’ and Rex. Rex was doing awesome and King and the rest of the King’s were all pretty much doing the same thing they were doing back before I left. 

After my few hour visit with them, I made my way to the Atomic Wrangler. To my surprise, James and Francine recognized me almost instantly. Hell, all the regulars from years ago did. My NCR ranger duster was way too tattered for it to be recognizable. But, according to Francine, my raven coloured locks, icy grey eyes, and pale skin was a dead give away. I guess that was to be expected, especially since the only thing that’s different about me is my hair. Before, I was an 18 year old with too many tasks at hand to be bothered to care about how my hair looked, so I always wore it in a bun. Now, It’s grown halfway down my back and if it’s not down, it’s in a messy side braid. 

“Jesus, how long’s it been doll?” James asked, pouring me another shot of whiskey.

I shrugged, “Since I’ve been on this bar stool? Damn… last time I was here was before the battle at Hoover Dam-”

“Courier fucking Six…” An angered voice growled beside me.

I turned my head and raised my brows, “Problem?”

“You’re goddamn right there’s a problem. You’re indepent Vegas completely fucked my life!” The man shouted. 

“I was an NCR trooper before you fucking had us pushed out! Left to starve!”

“The NCR wasn’t doing-”

“Save your fucking excuses. Just know one thing, _Courier_... You made a horrible fucking mistake that day.” 

“I allowed you to keep your life, that says I did something right that day,” I smirked, winking at the man.

“You also kept some of the fucking Legionaries alive! You stupid cocksucking good for nothing kid-” 

Within seconds I reached for the nearest bottle of whiskey, grabbing the bottle by the neck and swinging my arm back, smashing the bottle on the ex NCR troopers face. The small casino fell silent as they watched the man fall backward off of his stool and a pool of his own blood surround him. 

“Pour me another shot please, James” I asked sweetly.

James leaned forward, glancing down at the bleeding unconscious man on the floor. He shrugged and poured me another shot, “Meh, he’ll be right alright.”

Eventually the man came to and staggered out of the bar. I spent most of the night drinking myself silly, giggling obnoxiously every time someone paid for Fisto’s services. Beatrix and I made a bet on who could drink more, resulting in her winning. Old Ben told me stories that I was too drunk to full pay attention to. Santiago tried his hardest to seduce me and try to get me to pay for a night with him, but failed miserably. 

“Ya drunk, girl. You can have your old room tonight if ya want,” 

I burped, giggling as I tried to cover my mouth, “Nah, I’ll make my way to the strip, instead.”

Slowly, I stood up and stretched. They waved me goodbye, becoming slightly annoyed as I hiccuped trying to say goodnight and that I would be back someday soon. 

I decided against heading straight to the Lucky 38. Instead, I decided to take a walk around Freeside. Probably a stupid idea considering how rough the area was now, but it seemed like a better idea than heading to my ‘empire’ that was now up and running. Surely people would recognize me, and I wasn’t sober enough to deal with that or Arcade yet for that matter.

“There she is!” A familiar male voice shouted from behind me. I sighed, recognizing the voice, “This bitch knocked me out cold!”

“Is that the Courier?” A woman asked.

“You bet it is!” He replied as I turned around, face to face with him and six other ex NCR troopers. 

Sighing I held out my arms, “Can I help you guys?”

“You’ve been gone a long time, Courier. A lot changes when you no longer have an army behind you, hey?” A lady asked, glaring daggers right through me.  
“More like ex members of the fucking Enclave…” Another man grumbled.

Sighing, I tilted my head to the side and looked each and everyone of them up and down, mentally noting where all of their guns and weapons were holstered. Luckily for me, only three of them were carrying guns, the other three carrying machete’s. 

“I let your annoying fuckin’ General Oliver live, so cut me some slack here, I’m drunk!” I shouted in annoyance, still watching all of their hands closely. 

“That would have went down differently if it weren’t for your weirdo tv on wheels!” the woman spat.

From the corner of my eye, I could see a King’s member listening in. He mouthed “NCR?” to me and I nodded slightly. He quickly ran off, probably to get help, but I didn’t need it. Ex NCR weren’t allowed in Freeside, so I knew that word about my arrival back here in the Mojave was spreading rapidly, hence why these fucks are here bothering me. 

“Y’all must be pretty hurt still that you’ve come for me after all this time!” I exclaimed, taking a step toward them just to have them take a step back. I smirked, “And you came into Freeside to boot?” 

“You guys must mean business,” I shrugged, taking another step forward and reaching for the man from the Atomic Wrangler’s gun. 

Before he could react, I grabbed him by the shoulder and stuck the gun under his chin, shooting him dead. It took all of three seconds for the others to react and reach for their guns and machetes.

One, two, three, click. 

“Out of bullets? Damn…” I fake pouted as three other bodies fell to the ground. 

“You’re dead!” One of the two men remaining hollered, charging at me with his machete raised above his head.

I sighed melodramatically and jumped back out of the way as he swung. 

Grabbing his wrist, I spun him around and twisted his arm back to the point where his wrist snapped and the machete fell to the ground. He cried out in pain as I quickly spun him back around and used him as a human shield against the other man who was swinging his machete around. 

“You’re dead bitch!” He screamed, swinging and accidentally cutting the head off of his pal.  
“Hey!” I exclaimed as I reached for the machete and picked it up, throwing the decapitated human shield to the ground, “You got this fuckers blood on my duster!” 

The man froze in place and gulped, realizing he was utterly fucked. Flashing him a toothy grin, I swung the machete and watched as his head rolled on the ground. There was a crowd of people watching by the time the King’s showed up.

“God damn Six! You still don’t fuck around!” One of the King’s laughed. 

“Just like old times…” I mumbled, kicking the decapitated head.

_______________________________________________

**Goodsprings, January 1st, 2288**

In the disguise that he had worn six years ago while visiting The Strip, Vulpes found himself here in Goodsprings, stopping for supplies and a drink that he’d allow himself to consume in order to blend in with the locals. 

Ever since his precious Six won the battle against Caesar’s Legion and the NCR, things have went completely south for him. At first, he fought alongside Six wherever and whenever she was venturing out in the mojave wasteland. Then when his Six up and vanished without warning, he spent well over the past five years trying to track her down. The trail went cold after a month of searching, but still, he never gave up. 

It was no secret that he had always been fond of the courier since meeting her in Nipton all those years ago. Maybe that was why Vulpes made himself absent during the second battle at Hoover Dam. By him doing so was enough proof to Six that his growing love for her was serious and not some twisted crush she figured he was hoping to someday act out on. Side by side, they helped one another and in time, Six’s feelings changed and matched his own. 

_Then without warning, he woke up to find that Six was gone._

When he reached the strip, he found out that Six had left all of her friends behind as well. Some have said that the infamous Courier had been killed, while some swear that the Courier is impossible to kill and has to be alive somewhere.

“Have we met before?” Trudy asked as she placed a drink before him.

Vulpes cocked an eyebrow, never expecting her to recognize him, “Perhaps we have? It’s been quite sometime since I’ve been here.”  
Trudy hummed and nodded, “Huh, well… enjoy your drink.”

Vulpes clicked his jaw to the side and watched as the woman walked off to speak with other customers. His long, slender fingers drummed against the glass as he pondered where he would go and search next. 

“Did ya hear about that shit that happened last night in Freeside?!” A drunk male exclaimed.

Vulpes turned his head to stare at the wastelander sitting at the bar further down from where he was sitting. 

“Hear about it?! I watched that shit happen!” Another man stated before throwing back his shot of whiskey. He slammed the glass down onto the bar, “That broad took down seven ex NCR troopers in god damn near seconds!”

“What’d she look like?”

“Black hair long hair, pale skin, skinny, ya know? Clean, wearin’ red lipstick! Nice lookin’ broad, beautiful fuckin’ eyes!” 

Vulpes had his glassed raised and was about to take a drink when he paused and listened closer to the two nearby men’s conversation. 

“So she did that all by herself? Bullshit! you sure it was a broad?” The first man laughed.

“Fuckin’ positive! Looked like one and even sounded like one!” 

“What’d she say?” 

“She cut the head off of one of them and laughed as she booted his head, saying some shit like ‘Ain’t that a kick in the head?’” The man replied.

Slowly, Vulpes lowered his hand and placed the drink back down on the bar. 

“What colour were her eyes?” Vulpes asked in a low, dangerous tone.

Both of the men looked over at Vulpes, both taken back, “Uh… like greyish… ice blue maybe,” 

Vulpes’ blood began to boil and his hands started to shake, “What was she wearing?” he asked between gritted teeth.

“Who?” The man laughed.

“The girl, you drunken fool,” Vulpes spat, “What was she wearing? What was on her wrist?”

“Uh… A bloody coat and some weird thing with a screen on her left wrist,” The man answered.

Vulpes paused, waiting for his heart that threatened to pound through his chest to calm down, “Where did she go?”

“Headed toward the strip,” The man answered, watching as Vulpes jumped to his feet from his stool and stormed out of the bar. 

“It appears my instinct to return to the Mojave were correct,” Vulpes muttered to himself.

“Need supplies, handsome?” A caravan called out to him as he stormed by.

Vulpes gritted his teeth, “No… what I need is to get to the stip, ** _immediatly._** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felt like updating quick before the weekend begins! :D So this chapter was short... the next one will be longer!   
> Sorry for any errors, I don't have a beta reader and my English is kinda shit.


	4. Reunions

“Oh good God…” A familiar voice groaned, awakening me from my drunken slumber.

Wincing, I slowly sat up and glanced around at my surroundings. I was in the Lucky 38… on the floor… in the casino… by two very confused robots who have been guarding the elevator since I was last here, six years ago. 

A wide smile formed on my face, “Well, God damn! Arcade Gannon!” 

“You’re alive and you’re drunk, passed out on the casino floor… Welcome home.” Arcade pointed out, shaking his head as he held out a hand to help me up to my feet.

“I can’t believe that you actually stayed here all of this time,” I let out a faint laugh as we made our way into the elevator. 

“Well, given the circumstances, I really had no choice. Not to mention, the owner of the Lucky 38 and my “boss”,” he started, pausing to make quotations, “went M.I.A almost six years ago without so much as a goodbye.”

I frowned and looked away, “You hate me, don’t you?”

“Mhm,” He answered.

I pouted, “I’m sorry…”

Arcade cocked an eyebrow up at me, “Oh, I’m not mad at you for leaving. In fact, I was thrilled to hear you had left the Mojave,”

“Then why-”

“Then again, I was also thrilled to hear you weren’t going to help Caesar and his Legion,”

“...Arcade”

“But then! Then I find out that not only are you about to leave the Mojave without telling any of us, but you’re sleeping with Caesar’s leader of the Frumentarii!” Arcade exclaimed, throwing his hands up and sighing an exasperated sigh as we reached the Penthouse floor.

“You see why I had to leave, then?” I asked as we stepped out of the elevator.

Arcade pursed his lips and pondered, “I suppose.”

“I don’t remember shit about my past, and meeting the original Courier Six didn’t exactly help matters either,” I explained.

“Well, at least you found out your real name,” Arcade breathed.

“Yes Man!” I exclaimed, hoping to change the subject.

Arcade casually leaned against a bookshelf, staring down at the floor as I spoke to my beloved Securitron. 

“That is if you kept your real name…”

“Where are you going with this?” I chuckled nervously.

“That aside, the real question is… what are you doing here, Six?” He asked suspiciously, “Tell me you’re not here for your fox-”

“No,” I hissed, a shiver running down my spine at the thought.

Arcade appeared to be slightly taken back, “Oh? Then what is it? Can’t be to visit,” 

“Business,” I replied coolly, leaving Arcade standing there with a confused look on his face.

________________________________

It didn’t take Vulpes long to reach the strip, in fact, he reached the strip sooner than he normally would. Mostly because of the rage and determination that fueled him. Six years he had spent trying to track this woman down. This… dissolute that he had found himself infatuated with the moment she approached him in Nipton, six years ago. 

He had betrayed Caesar and the Legion for this woman, leaving everything he’s ever known behind… for her. Her stupidity had led them both to near deaths several times, and yet he stood by her at every turn. A woman that was just as vulnerable to him as he was to her. A woman that he had many chances to slit her throat for betraying Caesar and his Legion, yet he chose not to. 

During the battle of Hoover Dam, where Six and her army of robots and small group of ex Enclave members destroyed both the NCR and Caesar’s Legion - while taking control of the Dam and creating an independent Vegas - Vulpes had made sure to tail his precious courier and keep her safe during the battle. She believed he had just made himself scarce from the battle completely, when in reality… he was killing some of his own just to protect her. 

Just to wake up one morning to find that she was gone…

After everything that he had done for her, just like that… she had vanished without a trace. 

He spent a month after her disappearance trying to track her down, just to have the trail go cold. For years he traveled from wasteland to wasteland as a caravan guard to get by and in hopes of finding a lead on where she had went. It wasn’t his intention to return to the Mojave, not after everything that had happened here, but the caravan he was working for led him here. Something inside also told him that it was finally time to return to the Mojave. 

It appears his instincts were right…

“There she is, that’s her! That’s the Courier! She’s back!” A woman standing outside of The Tops exclaimed to another casino goer. 

Vulpes, who had just slipped his way past the securitrons outside of the gate and was adjusting his oversized hat, stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, he lifted his head up in the direction of where the woman was pointing. His heart stopped as his eyes focused on the slender figure making her way out of the Lucky 38 Casino.

__________________________

“So… you’re really going to do this?” Arcade asked again, following me outside of the casino.

I sighed, “I have no choice. Somehow the Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel from the Capital Wasteland; got wind of who I was. My hands are tied here…”

“Didn’t you… you know…?” Arcade started, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Despite what you may have heard, no, I didn’t kill any of the Brotherhood members here,” I paused, glancing down at my pip-boy. “I wanted to… but I didn’t.”

“Because of Veronica?” Arcade pryed.

I shrugged, “That and… they were basically fucked on their own, to begin with,” 

“So what makes you think they’re even alive?” Arcade questioned.

“I don’t…” I answered truthfully, “In fact… I know this is a waste of time.”

“Then why are you here, Six?” Arcade asked, narrowing his eyes.

A crooked smile formed from the corners of my mouth as I glanced up at Arcade, “Figured it was time come back.”

Arcade sighed, “Welcome home…” 

“I owe it to Sole to find out exactly what happened to the Brotherhood, and to see if there is any remaining members around in the Mojave. Maxson must have a reason for wanting to know,” I explained.

Arcade folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at me, not buying my story, even though it was true. Maybe it wasn’t the exact reason why I was here again… but… close enough.

“...I have some unfinished business to deal with,” I admitted in defeat.

Arcade leaned his head back and sighed, straightening out his posture, “Well,” Arcade sighed again, “I suppose this means this is goodbye… again?”

I nodded, “For now.”

“How long do you have?”

“Three months,” I muttered. 

“It’s nice to see you not wearing that terrible NCR duster,” Arcade chuckled, pointing at my vault 114 vault suit that Sole had gifted me a few months back. Unlike any of the vault suits I was used to, this one clung to your body. “I never understood why you even wore that thing, given the circumstances and all…”

“Got it off of a dead ranger,” I answered honestly, “I liked it…”

“Of course you did,” Arcade chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

“See ya around?” I asked with a friendly smile on my face.

“Be safe, Six.” Arcade said firmly, “I mean it.”

“Take care, Arcade.” I replied, slowly walking away.

“Hey Six,” Arcade called out, causing me to halt and glance back at him from over my shoulder, “You can’t run forever...”

___________________________

I was too tired and too hungover from last night’s shenanigans to even think about traveling tonight. But I couldn’t bring myself to actually stay in the Lucky 38, mostly because it felt too weird being in there again, but because I knew Arcade would keep me up all night asking questions about The Commonwealth and wanting to know everything that I’ve been up to and all that I’ve seen in the past six years of being gone.

There was no fuckin’ way I was gonna deal with that shit tonight. My hangover begged to be nursed with a drink, but I couldn’t bring myself to go into any of the other casinos. Instead, I made my way through the crowds of gawking people who whispered amongst themselves as I made my way to Vault 21. 

Any other time I’d wink or nod at the people talking about me, but tonight, I just hung my head and hurried to the door of Vault 21. A chill ran up my spine as I reached for the door, making me freeze in place. A whimper escaped my mouth as a familiar presence stood behind me. Slowly, I closed my eyes and stood tall before slowly turning to look over my shoulder. 

Nobody was there. 

“Fuck…” I mumbled, shaking my head at my paranoia. 

Shaking my head, I exhaled a shaky breath and stepped inside of the hotel. Surprisingly, I wasn’t surprised that Sarah was still sitting there behind that counter, a big grin on her face as she recognized who I was. 

Anyone else who was like me wouldn’t be allowed to rent a room here, but, given the fact that I killed Mr. House… Sarah adores me. 

“Six!” She exclaimed, “You’re back!”

“And you’re… still here…” I responded.

Sarah began to babble on about shit I didn’t really care about. I nodded and pretended I was actually acknowledging everything she was telling me. Eventually, she quit talking long enough to take my caps and tell me which room I’d be staying in. 

Relief washed over me as I entered my room. I was beyond tired and needed a decent rest before venturing out into the hot Mojave desert. It didn’t take me long to strip out of my vault suit and have myself a hot shower that felt like heaven. 

After my shower, I towel dried my hair and slipped into a silk nightgown. My skin felt like it was on fire from the sunburn I now had due to being used to the Commonwealth’s weather instead of New Vegas’s scorching hot weather. 

Wincing, I carefully got into bed and pulled the blanket over me. Within minutes, I drifted off into a deep slumber. 

A few hours went by before I was abruptly awoken from my slumber. I sat straight up in bed, blinking a few times as my eyes tried to adjust to the pitch black room. A lump formed in my throat as my eyes focused on a shadow in the chair in the corner of the room. My heart raced and my mouth became dry. My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, as I tried to speak, my stomach twisting in knots. 

“H-How did you find me?” I asked out loud, my voice cracking as I spoke.

A low chuckle came from the corner of the room, “Did you expect any less, Courier?”

My body trembled as I swallowed the hard lump that had just formed in my throat. I patted around under my pillow, silently swearing to myself as I realized I had forgotten to put a pistol under my pillow like I always do. 

“Vulpes…” I whispered as he stood tall and slowly made his way across the room to stand in front of me.

I froze in place as his cold, slender fingers caressed my cheek, “Hello, Bethany”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for the lack of updates! My father had a heart attack and life has been hectic ever since. I apologize if this chapter seems repetitive, short, and bland... it's going to take me a little to get back into the habit of writing. But, I'll be updating frequently as of now! :D


	5. A Kick in The Head

Though his touch was as cold as ice, it was able to send burning sensation throughout my entire body. It was a touch that was once so comforting and now so strange… yet familiar. He knew what just his touch alone could do to me, how much power he had over me during these moments of vulnerability. A hunter luring in his prey… 

**A fox… _and a silly rabbit._ **

The moment of having my guard down quickly passed, and before he could react, I was out of bed and on my feet with a pistol from the desk across the room, in hand. 

His chuckle echoed throughout the room, “Are you really pointing a gun at me, Bethany?”

“Six,” I corrected between gritted teeth. 

He took a step towards me, a wild smirk across his face, “Are you wanting to kill me, _’Six’_ ”

“Back the fuck up or you’ll know your answer when there’s a bullet between your fuckin’ eyes,” I hissed pressing the end of the barrel against his temple.

“Pull the trigger, Bethany” He taunted, staring me right in the eyes.

“I-I-I’ll kill-”

“What’s the matter, my love? Cat got your tongue?”

“Fuck you-”

“Perhaps you can’t bring yourself to pull the trigger… simply because you do not wish to kill me after all,” He said in a low tone, his eyes burning a hole through my head.

My jaw clenched and my body shook with anger as I slowly lowered the gun in defeat and stared back at him with tears threatening to pour out the corners of my eyes. I hated how he could do this to me - the infamous Courier Six - how he could make me the weakest woman alive. 

“What do you want, Vulpes?” I asked, sighing as I ran my free hand through my long black locks.

“Why did you leave me?” He asked softly, tilting his head slightly to the right to examine one of my recent scars on my shoulder.

I exhaled a shaky breath and shrugged, “I didn’t leave because of ‘you’, I left the Mojave because I no longer needed to be here.”

“The power, the caps, the strip? I cannot fathom how you could just turn your back on your biggest desires,” He spat.

“...You,” I added to his list, watching as he froze in place and clenched his jaw, “I put you before all of those things, Vulpes.”

“Yet here we are,” He hissed.

“I had my reasons,” I replied, clicking my jaw to the side as I stepped back and turned to face the desk. I could feel his eyes admiring my body from behind. He was too predictable. “I had to leave.”

“It appears you’ve failed at staying away, Courier.” 

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah… funny story.”

“I have the time,” He cut me off.

My tongue pressed against the inside of my left cheek as I debated on if I wanted to spend anymore time talking to him just to tell him how I got mixed up in all of this shit and ended up back here. My lips pursed and I shrugged. It’s not like I have anything better to do right now anyways.

“Wanna drink?” I asked as I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and held it up.

“I do not wish to partake in your drinking habits, Courier.” He responded in disgust.

A low chuckle rose from my throat, “Still the fuckin’ same with the no alcohol shit, hey?”

“Just as you are still vulgar with your language and still in your crude habit of drinking yourself into oblivion,” he retorted.

“Fare enough…” I breathed, sitting down on the bed and staring up at him, “...Well? Are you going to sit down or what? You’re making me uncomfortable just standing there.”

He seemed reluctant at first, but eventually sat down on the bed beside me. I took a swig from the bottle and gasped as I pulled the bottle away from my lips, feeling the familiar sensation burn the back of my throat.

“Ever hear of ‘The Commonwealth’?” I asked, turning my face to stare at him.

“No, I don’t believe that I have,” 

“Well… that’s where I’ve been. Actually, that’s where I’ve been recently anyway. It’s where I live now,” I explained, watching as he nodded slightly. “Anyways… I met this woman - Amber - the sole survivor of vault tec’s Vault 111-”

 **______________________________________**

 **Amber smiled as she watched her son tinker around with the working pip-boy she had brought back from vault 88 for him. Every so often Shaun would look up at his mom with excitement, showing her his high score on the red menace holotape she had gifted him. She’d smile and ruffle up his hair before turning her attention up at the sky, remembering her life before all of this.**

 **“When is Six coming back, mom?” Shaun asked as Amber handed him an ice cold Nuka Cola.**

 **Sole smiled, “Soon, Shaun.”**

 **“I miss her, she’s funny.”**

 **Sole smirked, “She really is,”**

 **“Mom?”**

 **“Hmm?”**

 **“Six told me that she doesn’t have any family… er… that she doesn’t even remember if she has any family… that, that makes me kind of sad,” Shaun frowned, “The others said Six doesn’t remember much of anything… like me.”**

 **Sole bit her bottom lip, “Six had an accident, Shaun. You, on the other hand, you’re a kid, you’re meant to forget things,”**

 **“Nuh-uh!” Shaun argued with a goofy smile.**

 **Sole smirked, “Yeah? Then tell me how you’ve already forgotten that you get to come with me to one of my settlements tomorrow!”**

 **“What? Really?! I thought you said I wasn’t allowed-”**

 **“I’m just super protective of you, Shaun. Do you know how worried I was to hear that Preston, Sturges, and a group of Minutemen led you from the castle all the way through the Commonwealth to here in Sanctuary?!" Sole exclaimed, watching as Shaun frowned.**

 **“That being said… that’s because I’m your mother, and I’m always going to panic. I’ll probably panic during our whole trip to my starlight theatre settlement… and it’s not even that far!” She added with a chuckle.**

 **“I know, mom-”**

 **“Excuse me, General. I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a matter that needs your attention… immediately,” Preston interrupted.**

 **Sole looked back over her shoulder, “What is it Preston?”**

 **“Elder Maxson has arrived. A vertibird has landed near Red Rocket, with a couple Brotherhood Knights. I told Maxson to wait at the bridge, he says he wishes to speak with you,” Preston explained.**

 **Sole gave Shaun a kiss on the forehead before standing up and brushing herself off, “What does that son of a bitch want?”**

 **“He says he wishes to discuss the assignment at hand. Probably wants more information about the Courier, General.” Preston replied, lifting his brows.**

 **“Bullshit,” Sole grumbled, “He knows damn well who she is, what the plan is, and how much time she has asked for. This is just one of his bullshit attempts,”**

 **“Well… it’s not like Maxson to make house calls,” Preston laughed faintly, “You really have an impact on him.”**

 **Sole stopped in her tracks just before the bridge, Maxson in sight. She glanced over at Maxson and then back at Preston, “Trust me, you don’t want to know the extent…”**

 ****

 **_____________________________________**

“That’s about it…” I laughed nervously, having just explained to Vulpes what Maxson has asked from Sole and I.

Vulpes clicked his jaw to the side, “Are you aware of what you did to the Brotherhood of Steel?”

“Wait, what-” I paused and laughed nervously, “I didn’t really… you know… abandon them.”

“That is precisely what you did to those fools, and out of all the havoc you have caused, it is the one decision that I find myself agreeing with you on,” Vulpes admitted, glancing over at me and sneering in disgust as I chugged back whiskey. 

“What?” I hissed, glaring at him as I put the cap back on the bottle.

“You have yet to answer my question, Courier” Vulpes stated, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

A cool shiver ran down my spine as my eyes scanned around the small room, trying to think of the right thing to say. Not that I really owed him - or anyone for that a matter - an explanation. Yet, I couldn’t help but notice the feeling of guilt wash over me as I thought about why I had left. 

Me being me, I like to keep my answers short. SImple. Half-assed. 

Unfortunately, this was a situation where I wasn’t going to be able to do just that.

“I’ll answer your question if you answer a question I’ve wanted to know for a long time,” I bribed.

Vulpes pursed his lips and nodded slightly in agreement before straightening out his posture and holding up a slender finger, “I must warn you though, dear Courier, if it’s a question that you - of all people - have pondered about, yet have failed to find enough courage inside of you to ask-”

He paused and turned to brush back some hair of mine that had fallen over my healing shoulder. A smug smirk formed from the corner of his lips as he noticed how I shivered at his touch. 

“...Then, you must already know the answer.”

“You’re the one who set him on fire-”

“Are you asking a question that you already know the answer to, or just stating a fact?” He retorted, anger appearing on his face.

“Don’t kid yourself, I knew you were a sick bastard-”

“You climbed into bed with me willingly, Bethany”

 _“Six”_ I hissed. 

“Answer the question,” He demanded between gritted teeth.

“I knew I was dancing with the devil, let’s get that straight right now.” I spat, moving my face only inches from his own.

“Are you going to tell me?” He asked, choosing to ignore my comment.

I sighed deeply and stared down at my bare legs, “Well… do you remember when I returned from meeting Ulysses?” 

He nodded slightly.

“Well… as you’re well aware, that shit didn’t really help matters-”

“You’re not getting to the point, Courier.” 

“Well if you’d let me fucking finish,” I hissed. “Anyways…the shit I seen there, the shit I learned there… that played on my mind long after the Hoover dam shit. Hell, I still dream about it…”

“The point, Courier… please” 

“Please? Is that new? I like it,” 

“...Six”

“FIne, fine... anyways, I remember it like it was yesterday…” I started.

 **The Strip, New Vegas, 2281**

Vulpes wasn’t beside me when I awoke… he never was when I was at the strip. Sure, he’d disguise himself so he could sneak his way into my hotel room, spend the night with me, and then be gone by the time I’d wake up in the morning. It worked. Especially since he hated basically everyone, and all of my friends - especially Boone - who I had stay at the the Lucky 38, hated him. In fact, Boone would probably kill both of us if he knew about Vulpes Inculta and I. 

 

“The fuck do you mean I’m ‘cut off’! I own this mother fucker!” I exclaimed as a bouncer from The Tops carried me towards the exit.

“Ahh get outta here baby doll, it’s not even noon yet!” Swank called out to me, “Ya gonna drink us dry!” 

I winked and blew him a kiss before I was tossed out on my ass out of the casino.

“No fun!” I pouted as I stood up and brushed myself off. I cracked my neck from side to side before strutting my way through the strip.

I always loved the attention I got when wearing Vera’s dress. It was sexy and showed the right amount of skin, yet was sophisticated enough that it made me look intimidating. I knew it drove my fox wild when I’d wear it. He was always somewhere… watching. 

“Oh my goodness! It’s the courier!” A female squealed as I passed by.

“Did you hear that she took out Mr. House?” A male gossiped.

“And the Legion!”

“I heard she pushed out the NCR too!” 

I couldn’t help but smirk as I made my way into Freeside, where I found myself heading straight toward the Atomic Wrangler, my favourite place. It was the one place I could be myself - whoever that even was. No one really gave two shits about who I was, even though they were damn well aware of _who_ I was, and what I was capable of, and what I have done. Still, it was comforting that they didn’t pry at me about it. 

The attention, the caps, the success… it was getting to my head. I had become arrogant, self centered, and naive. I was allowing myself to actually trust Vulpes Inculta - the leader of the frumentarii in Caesar’s Legion. I couldn’t even blame Benny shooting me in the head for the decisions I was making… because according the Ulysses… I was always like this, if not worse… 

Be that as it may; I was about to take another unexpected shot to the head… a kick in the head, really. One that wouldn’t leave me with a scar hidden beneath my raven locks, but one that would bring me back down to earth. 

“Awh what the fuck!” James exclaimed, whipping his arms around in disgust as my vomit splashed up from the bar and onto his suit. 

“I-I-I’m so sorry,” I winced, holding my stomach with one hand and wiping my mouth off with the other. “I… I didn’t even drink that much today, what the hell?” 

“Just… just go back to ya casino,” James growled. 

Surprisingly, I did just that. 

I woke up, sober, and was fine… until I went to leave the Lucky 38, where I vomited again. Then it happened yet AGAIN near Vault 3. Arcade had enough on his plate to deal with back at the Lucky 38, so I avoided going to him. In fact, I avoided going back to the strip altogether. Instead, I headed to the man who had dug pieces of metal out of my head once before, a man who knew me pretty well from all the close calls I’ve had recently. That man being; **Doc Mitchell.**

“Well? What’s wrong with me, Doc? Am I finally kickin’ the bucket?” I asked as he sat down on a chair in front of where I was sitting.

“Afraid not, Courier. But… I reckon that your life is about to change, quite drastically.” He answered with a small chuckle.

“What-”

He looked me dead in the eye and said, _**“It appears that you’re pregnant, kid”**_

 **___________________________________________**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D: sorry for any errors of any kind. I've been trying to read more to get a better grasp on proper English and how to write properly. Sooooo... forgive me xD


	6. Bad Company

**_Body language._**

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life - well, the parts of my life that I **can** remember - is to always watch the body language of your peers. Whether it’s in combat, or just in mere conversation. People are unpredictable, watch their body language.

“Vulpes…” I cleared my throat.

“Where is the child now, Bethany?” He questioned, getting straight to the point.

I didn’t have to speak, he already knew the answer. Instead, I dropped my hands into my lap and hung my head. My first instinct was to get up and leave, leave like I always do, as it’s the only thing I’m good at doing. Causing problems and leaving said problems behind. That’s all I’m really good for besides killing and ‘drinking myself into oblivion’ as Vulpes had stated earlier. 

“There,” I finally spoke, standing up and setting the now empty bottle of whiskey down on the desk across the room, “You got your answer why I left.”

My heart raced as Vulpes stood up and made his way over to me, pressing his chest against my back. A shiver ran down my spine as his warm breath tickled the back of my neck, goosebumps forming almost instantly. While I was nervous, I was prepared. My right hand wrapped around the neck of the whiskey bottle, just in case Vulpes’ true reaction to what I had just informed him of, decides to come out. 

He rested his chin on my left shoulder and buried his face in the crook of my neck. Vulpes was quite a bit taller than me, which probably made this position uncomfortable - for both of us. Even though I was clothed in a silk nightgown, I felt practically naked. 

“I mourned you,” He whispered softly, wrapping his ice cold hands around both of my upper arms. 

“You knew I wasn’t dead,” I scoffed.

“One day your arrogance is going to catch up to you, Bethany.” 

I chuckled as I yanked myself free from his grip and spun around to face him, not realizing that doing this would make us uncomfortably close. I could feel his warm breath on my face as I glanced up at him. 

“Well,” I started, pausing to smirk, “If it does…” 

Vulpes kept a blank expression as I stood on the tips of my toes to reach his height, his eyes only shifting once I placed both hands on his shoulders and brushed my lips against his right ear.

“-I’ll be bringing you down with me.” I threatened.

Vulpes Inculta never was a man of weakness… except for when it came to me, and boy oh boy did I know how to cause him to have moments of weakness. 

A chuckle escaped from my lips as Vulpes exhaled in annoyance, staring at me intently. It was almost impossible not to match his gaze. It was easy to tell what he was always feeling, just by looking into his eyes. Whenever he’d make direct eye contact with me, I knew that I had his full attention. Yet, whenever he’d hold my gaze, I knew he loved me without having to say it. Which is probably why whenever I was speaking to Caesar in his tent, Vulpes would avoid making eye contact with me at all costs. Couldn’t have the others knowing that the leader of the Frumentarii in Caesar’s legion had a soft spot for the mailman that could hardly be trusted, much less a woman. 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get dressed and packed-”

“What exactly do you plan on doing, Courier? You know bloody well that the Brotherhood wouldn’t have made it after all of these years!” He spat, interrupting me.

“I couldn’t have them knowing about me!” I shouted, not caring that I could be heard throughout the whole vault. 

Vulpes pursed his lips before cracking a sly smirk, “Ahh, there it is.”

“Fuck off,” I growled, shoving him away from me and walking over to where I had thrown my vault suit earlier.

“Say it,” He taunted, staring back at me from over his shoulder.

“I did it,” I muttered, clicking my jaw to the side. “I did what your ‘Lord’ asked of me.”

“Say it,” He repeated more demandingly.

“I fucking killed them, all of them.” 

Vulpes smiled in satisfaction and slowly turned around, “The truth finally surfaces. You didn’t ‘abandon’ them, you murdered them.”

“I’m nothing like you,” I jabbed.

He smirked and folded his arms across his chest, “But you are, my love.’

My blood began to boil and my hands began to tremble, my trigger finger starting to itch, wanting to so badly put a bullet right between his eyes. 

“Do you know what I did to your Lord, Vulpes?” I snickered, becoming vindictive as my anger rose.

Vulpes cleared his throat and wiped the smirk off his face.

“The night before the battle for the dam, I crept my way inside of the Fort and slit Caesar’s throat,” I told him in a low, dangerous tone. “Do you know what I did before doing so? I cut his tongue out so his no one could hear his cries as I cut each and every one of his fingers off.” 

Vulpes’ jaw twitched slightly as I made my way over to him again, “But that’s not even the half of it. I castrated him so that he’d never be able to rape another woman again. Not that he could have anyways, but it still made me feel warm inside doing so,” I continued.

“Where were you Vulpes? Not with the others preparing for the battle, nope, instead, you were making your way across the Mojave to find me. You betrayed your lord for me, made sure that none of your ‘brothers’ in the Legion hurt me during the battle for the Dam-”

“Enough,” He hissed through gritted teeth.

“I may have been the one to do what I did to Caesar, but you allowed it to happen,” I shouted.

Before I could say anything more, Vulpes slammed me up against the nearest wall, pinning me there. Grunting, I tried to fight him off, instantly regretting not having my gun on me. His chest was heaving in and out, his nostrils flared, jaw tight. He had a strong grip on my jaw, digging his thumb into my cheek, forcing me to stare him directly in the eyes.

“I did it for you, you-”

“What? Say it, you fuckin pussy-” I gurgled out causing his grip to tighten around my jaw.

“I gave up everything for you, you ungrateful-”

“So did…” I struggled to speak, trying to break free from his grip, “-did I!” 

Vulpes released me from his hold causing me to collapse to my knees, gasping for air before glaring up at him. I watched intently as Vulpes straightened out his posture and regained his composure before slowly crouching down to my level. 

“Whether you choose to accept who you truly are or not, Six, you are not whoever those people back in the Commonwealth think you are,” He started in a calmer tone, placing two slender fingers under my chin and making me look up at him, “You are a cold-blooded killer. It’s who you are, it’s who you’ve always been.”

“It’s who I was,” I hissed, pushing myself up off of the floor. “Why do you think I lied to her about the Brotherhood?! I can’t have her or anyone find out who I really am, and what I have done! Sole is my only shot I have at making up for all the bad I’ve done-”

“You can’t hide from who you are, Bethany.”

“I was eighteen God damn years old, Vulpes! Not to mention, I had just been shot in the head and buried alive. When I woke up, I had no idea who I even was, where I came from. The only memory I have from my past is Benny shooting me in the fucking head!” I growled. 

“I had no idea what I was doing back then! Nor did I care! Especially not about the consequences that came from my actions! The only things I cared about back then were caps and power…” I added softly, chest heaving in and out as I tried to calm myself down, “...and you.”

Vulpes stiffened at my words, his jaw tight and expression blank. Though he wasn’t looking at me, I could tell he was paying attention to every word that I was saying.

“When I found out I was with child, I had no choice but to think of someone else besides myself for once. You’re right, Vulpes. I was just like you, and together we were destructive. No child deserves to be born into a world like this, especially with parents like you and I.” I explained, shaking my head slightly. 

“When I left, I spent years trying to find my place. So far the Commonwealth has been the only place I seem to find some sort of fucking peace. No one knows who I am, and the ones who do, don’t fucking care.” 

“If that were true, you would not be here - running - from the truth,” Vulpes stated, finally speaking.

“I didn’t expect my past to catch up with me,” I laughed faintly. “I had hoped that I could finally settle down there, start new, make up for all the wrong I’ve done in the past…a fresh start.”

“It appears you were wrong.” 

“Appears so,” I agreed, sighing in defeat.

After a moment of silence and awkward tension between the two of us. Vulpes cleared his throat and turned his attention over to me, staring a hole right through me with his piercing blue eyes.

“What is the plan?”

“The plan?”

Vulpes closed his eyes and sighed in disbelief, shaking his head slightly. 

“What is it that you plan to do now?”

“Well… First things first, I have to come clean to Arcade. He had assumed that I had killed the Brotherhood-”

“You did,”

“I know that,” I growled. “But, I lied to him and said I hadn’t... “

Vulpes sneered in disgust, “Why does the opinion of that vile-”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “I need to see if any members made it out alive… if there are any remaining members still around. Elder Maxson must have a reason for wanting to know in the first place.”

Much like Arcade had been when I explained this to him, Vulpes wasn’t buying that this was my only plan. Not that I was surprised, Vulpes had to ability to read me like a fucking book.

Sighing, I glanced around the room before throwing my hands up in defeat, “I have some unfinished business to take care of, too.”

Vulpes stood before me, yet once again, this time too close for comfort; even closer than we had been before. He brushed his fingers through my hair, twirling a raven-colored lock of hair between his fingers. I gulped, unsure of what he was going to do or say next.

“Despite our time apart, you must know that my affection for you has not changed, Courier.” He started, his words sending chills up my spine, “I am exactly what you think I am. I have never concealed exactly who I am to you. However, do not let what I am, allow you to underestimate what I feel for you, Bethany.” 

I smirked, “Careful, You keep talking like that and I might start to think that you’re actually human after all, Vulpes.” 

“I’ll have you know that when I heard you were alive and back here on the strip, I had every intention of coming and killing you in your sleep, Courier.” He admitted.

“Awe, really? In my sleep?” I giggled, taunting him, “No thoughts of stringing me up to a cross? How about beating me senseless before killing me slowly and staring me in the eyes as I take my last breath? C’mon Vulpes, you’re getting soft as you get older.” 

“Do you have any idea what I went through trying to find you?” He hissed. “Even when word had spread around that you had been killed... I still searched for you.”

Vulpes paused and held up a slender finger, slightly shaking it in my face, “But then, then I find out that not only are you not dead! You’re back here, in the Mojave, causing trouble with remaining NCR members.”

“They started it…” I mumbled with a shrug.

“When you staggered out from inside of the Lucky 38, a burning rage that I have never felt before grew inside of my core. There was my wife - who I had just spent years trying to find - alive, and well, making her way through the strip-”

“Ha! ‘Wife’ my ass! The only reason why you took me as your wife was so that none of those sick twisted freaks at the Fort could touch me against my will…” I paused to laugh faintly, “Though, I would have loved to see them try.”

When Vulpes didn’t say anything, I took a brave step toward him and paused, making direct eye contact with him. Cautiously, I placed both of my hands on his shoulders and slowly rested the side of my face against his chest. I could feel his body tense up as I did so, but he didn’t move or push me away.

Vulpes tilted his head to the side slightly so that half of his face rested on the top of my head. A smile formed on the corners of my lips and I sighed a satisfied sigh. We remained in this position for what seemed like forever, until I broke away and ran a hand through my hair.

“If what you say about how you still feel about me is true… then you’ll listen to what I’m about to say and consider doing exactly what I say,” 

Vulpes’ expression hardened as his eyes studied my face, waiting for me to continue with what I had to tell him.

“You need to leave, and never look back…” 

Vulpes opened his mouth to protest, but I held up a hand and silenced him.

“Despite what you may believe, I am no longer that same reckless young girl that you knew all those years ago, I’m not… I’m not.” I breathed, shifting my weight onto one leg. “She died when I left,”

“You are not who you or any of those fools back in the Commonwealth think that you are,” Vulpes hissed. 

“People change, Vulpes… look at you for instance-”

“Because of you.” 

“...Vulpes”

“You are a destructive, manipulative, selfish alcoholic who feeds off of false admiration from worthless degenerates who are too foolish to see just who you truly are, Courier.” Vulpes spat in disgust, shaking his head angrily. 

I frowned and nodded slightly, “Well… when you put it like that…”

He stormed over to the door and stopped dead in his tracks before pressing the button. He turned his head to the right and stared back at me from over his shoulder, “Mark my words, one of these days, everything is going to catch up to you.”

“Vulpes…” I lazily called out to him.

“And I will not be there to protect you.” He swore, storming out of the room and leaving me standing there dumbfounded.

My chest heaved in and out as my hands shook angrily by my sides. Gritting my teeth, I spun around and stormed over to the desk where my bottle of whiskey was. Cursing under my breath, I twisted the cap off of the bottle and held it up to my lips but paused before taking a drink. Vulpes’ words replayed over and over in my mind, causing me to snap. 

“Fuck you!” I screamed, throwing the bottle across the room, watching as it smashed against the wall. Shattered glass flew around the room and the remnants of whiskey puddled on the floor. 

The dreams that I’ve suffered from the past few years were real, in fact, I was living those nightmares. I wasn’t like Vulpes, **I was worse than Vulpes Inculta could ever be.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a beta reader to help me, so pleaaaaase excuse any errors.


	7. On The Road Again

“I’d be a liar if I said that I wasn’t surprised,” Arcade breathed, pausing to take a sip of whatever it was he was drinking. He set the cup down on the table and cleared his throat, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose before continuing, “In fact, I’m stunned by what you just told me.”

“I know,” I sighed, poking at whatever it was on the plate Arcade had placed before me. “They were annoying though… But I betrayed Veronica-”

“No, no. I’m surprised that you did that… given your ties with Vulpes Inculta and all…” Arcade glared, “I’m just surprised you told me the truth… that’s a new characteristic of yours.” 

Rolling my eyes, I shoved the plate of food away from me and straightened out my posture the best that I could, “Thanks, Arcade. Thanks.”

Arcade sighed and leaned back in his chair, chuckling as he stared up at the ceiling, “Ugh, Six… what am I going to do with you?!”

“Forgive me and-”

“No,”

“But-”

“I already know what you’re going to ask me and the answer is still, NO.” 

“Arcade!” I whined, leaning forward, “Pweaaaase?”

“Are you insane?” Arcade laughed at his ironic question, “Don’t answer that; of course you are.”

“Oh come on…”

“No, the answer is no. Never again, not after what you did,” 

“Won the battle at the dam, took over the strip, helped out the Followers… gave you a pretty casino to reside in…” I trailed off, staring at my chewed right down to the skin nails.

“Did unspeakable things for Caesar— like kill the Brotherhood — sleep with his leader of-”

“Alright, alright. Fuck,” I hissed, cutting his sentence short.

“You’re aware that you’re going to have to tell your friend back in the Commonwealth the truth, right?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah… just… just give me time, alright? There has to be another reason why Maxson is wondering about them after all this time. He knows there’s a super high chance they’re all dead… so why else is he curious?” I wondered out loud.

“Luckily for you, you’ll have lots of time to figure out that question as you venture off into the Mojave all by your lonesome,” Arcade replied, laughing in disbelief that I’d even have the nerve to ask him to come with me like we had back in the day.

For a moment, I thought about how I could convince Arcade— who’s still mad at me— to give me a second chance and actually come with me. Finally, I came up with a plan that was sure to work.

A sly smirk formed on my face.

“If you don’t come with me… I’ll jump out of a window from the very top floor of this casino,” I threatened.

Arcade lowered his cup and frowned, “Oh, please, don’t let me stop you,”

I frowned. Well, that didn’t work.

“In fact, I’ll bid you farewell before you jump!”

“Really?! Still?!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up and pouting.

“N-O! Are you smart enough to know what that spells? It spells no! No as in, I am NEVER going with you anywhere ever again!” Arcade promised.

___________________________________

** Freeside, January 5th, 2288 **

“You gonna stand there and glare all day or can we get going?” I asked, staring back at Arcade who was frowning at the new plasma rifle I had just gifted him.

Arcade shot his head up and glared at me, “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

“Ah, it was easy…” I chuckled, walking alongside Arcade who was making sure to take his sweet time.

“I only agreed simply because I have—” Arcade sighed, “—Nothing better to do with my time.”

“Nah,” I smirked, “You agreed because I’m your best friend and deep down…”

“What?” Arcade hissed.

“You love me!” I declared.

Arcade sneered in disgust, “I swear you get cockier and cockier as each day passes.”

“Eh, so I’ve been told.”

Arcade mumbled something under his breath, but I just smiled smugly as we made our way through Freeside. It didn’t take much before Arcade started complaining and bringing up the past. Normally, I’d argue with him just for the sake of arguing with him, but instead, I stayed quiet and let him go off into one of his rants. It didn’t help that my attention was more focused on the two people passing by — both in vault suits.

I cocked an eyebrow up at the two, curious about the vault suits they were wearing. The female, a platinum blonde— so blonde it was the whitest hair I’ve ever seen in my life— was slightly shorter than me and just as petite as I was. Her vault suit was old, beat up, clearly resewn multiple times, and although it looked like she’s attempted to clean it every so often, it was beaten to shit. 

The male who accompanied her reminded me one of the King’s members because of the hairstyle he had. Except, he was younger and more handsome than any of the King’s I’ve ever met. Much like the woman he was with, he wore a beat up vault suit. The only difference was he wore his zipper down, revealing a white t-shirt. Over the top of his vault suit, he wore a leather jacket.

They both looked to be just slightly older than I. They looked to be about 29-30, tops.

“Did’ya see how that chump was lookin’ ya up and down back there?” I heard him ask as they both passed.

She giggled, “You jealous, Butch?”

“I oughta go back there and knock that smirk right off his face for lookin’ at ya like that!” He continued.

She caught my gaze as she passed. There was something about that woman that made me feel like she was someone of importance. She clearly wasn’t from this shit hole, which told me that she had been through a shit ton of challenges to get here from wherever they were from. She reminded me a lot of Sole — Amber — back ‘home’ in the Commonwealth. Important, strong, and beautiful.

‘Butch’ wrapped his arm around her shoulders and stared down at her with a cocky grin, “What’s the matter? You look like you saw a ghost. You ain’t looking at some wastelander are ya, Nosebleed?”

She turned her attention away from me and rolled her eyes at him, “I only got eyes for you, dork.”

A smile crept across my face as I watched from over my shoulder as they walked off into the sunset. The logo on the back of his leather jacket made me chuckle; a beat up logo of a snake. The vault number on her back had me puzzled, however… 101? I’ve never heard of a vault 101. 

They definitely weren’t from here. 

“Now you’re dragging me across the Mojave, God only knows why…” Arcade trailed off, sneering in disgust.

“You know what I think?” I asked, glancing over at Arcade.

“Not really-”

“Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway,”

“Of course you are... “

“I think you need to get fucked,” 

“Well, I never-”

“No, no… like… actually, have sex.”

“Please tell me you’re not coming on to me…”

“W-wait, what?!” 

“Oh good. I had to be sure… can never be too sure of you and your ideas, Six.” Arcade huffed.

Clicking my jaw to the side, I narrowed my eyes at Arcade, “You know what I mean…”

“I do not have the time..”

“Of course you do. All you do is sit on your ass in the Lucky 38 all day… shit, you have all the time in the world.” I chuckled.

Arcade glared right back at me, “I’ll have you know that I’ve been incredibly busy since you’ve been gone.”

“I’m just fuckin’ with you, Arcade. But really… no fine man has your attention?”

Arcade pursed his lips as if he was thinking about his answer, “No.”

“Want me to book you a room with Fisto?” 

“I seriously can’t stand you… why did I agree to this?” 

I gave Arcade a slight nudge in the arm with my elbow, “Because you’ve missed your amazing best friend!”

Arcade pursed his lips and nodded slightly, “I suppose that’s fair to say…”

I smiled and nudged him again. We both chuckled and shook our heads as we made our way out of Freeside. Just like the old days… the two of us venturing off into the Mojave wasteland together. Just...like...the...old...days…

An eerie feeling crept upon me as my eyes scanned my surroundings. This dreadful, sweaty, long walk was once something I did daily. Now? I had the luxury of choosing to stay back at Sanctuary and keep an eye on things while Sole was out, or I had the choice to come with her when I’d get bored. I didn’t really like doing so though… not at first anyway… as she soon suspected I was someone of “importance” by my combat skills. Despite what Vulpes and practically everyone else, think about me being arrogant… I don’t like to brag about being the Courier who fucked shit up back in the Mojave. 

“So, Six… where are we even heading?” 

I cringed, “Don’t get mad…”

“Six…”

“Nellis Air Force Base…” I mumbled under my breath.

“The what? Speak up,”

“We’re going to see the Boomers.”

“Why?!” 

“Because.”

“Because why?!”

“I miss them,”

“Miss them?!”

“I have some business with them.” 

“Hmm… Is that why you sent an atrocious amount of caps over to them before you left?” Arcade questioned suspiciously. 

“I promised I’d take care of them,” I shrugged, wincing up at the scorching hot sun beaming down on us. “Fuck, it’s hot out here…”

“They DID help us at the battle for Hoover Dam…” Arcade sighed.

“Hey, maybe we will see that guy you had a thing with,” I smirked.

Arcade cocked a brow, “Who?”

“That boomer who guards the gate,” I chuckled.

“I did not have a ‘thing’ with him or any of the boomers for that matter!” Arcade quoted with his fingers. “Furthermore, I’ve never even been out there… for many reasons. The main reason being that I quite enjoy having limbs, I don’t want them blown off.”

“Would you like me to introduce you to him?” 

“No. What? No. Definitely, no.” 

“Your loss.” 

We didn’t really say much to each other for awhile after that, instead, we just hummed along to Johnny Guitar as we ventured off into the sunset. It wasn’t till we were almost at our destination when Arcade finally turned and cleared his throat, something clearly on his mind. 

“I’ve heard some rumors while you were gone, Six.” He stated.

“Like?” 

“...Well, about your business with the Boomers.”

“Such as?”

“Is there a reason you sent so much caps to them before disappearing for all of those years?” Arcade asked, getting straight to the point.

“Like I said, I promised I’d take care of them,” 

“But… why?”

“Why does it fucking matter?” I snapped, irritated by all his questions and battling a withdrawal from not having a drink since Vulpes had left me. 

“I was just curious, Six, calm down…” Arcade hissed, shaking his head in disbelief at my outburst.

“I am calm,” I snapped again, this time walking ahead of Arcade and his annoying prying questions.

Arcade could ALMOST read me like a book. He was too smart for his own good, along with being one of the nosiest people I’ve ever known. It was no surprise to hear that Arcade had done some research about me and my disappearance. He was too smart to know better than to think that I had been killed, and he was too nosey not to do some asking around. 

We weren’t very far from the Nellis Air Force Base, about a half an hour away. I could hear Arcade’s boots crushing the dirt behind me, so I knew he had caught up with me already. Grumbling, I slowed my pace until he was walking alongside me once again.

“So… uh, any road stories?” Arcade asked awkwardly, trying to make some small talk.

“Too many…” I chuckled, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

“Something I’ve always been curious about-” Arcade started but quickly held up his hands in defense, “It’s nothing that’ll make you angry…”

Sighing, I turned my head and stared at him blankly, “Well?”

“When you finally got to the Tops… how did… you know? Kill Benny?” Arcade asked softly.

A wild smirk formed on my face as I thought about the night my crazy ass took down the man who shot me in the head and buried me alive - without ever thinking that I would have somehow survived and come waltzing into his casino shortly after.

** The Tops Casino, The Strip, 2281 **

_There he was… standing there with a smug look on his stupid face. Dressed in that same ugly fucking checkered suit blazer he was wearing the night he put some steel in my noggin. He was clueless as to what was about to happen. In fact, he was so stupid, I probably could have taken out him and his bodyguards right then and there with the knife I had strapped to my thigh under my skirt. But where’s the fun in that?_

_Ruffling up my black locks, I moistened my signature crimson red lips with my tongue and headed towards Benny. Heads were starting to turn as I unbuttoned my shirt, revealing my cleavage and the lacy pre-war black bra I had found in a drawer in Vault 21._

_“What… in… the… God… Damn?!” Benny questioned out loud as he did a double take on the familiar broad before him._

_I placed a hand on my hip and tilted my head to the side, staring up at him innocently, making sure to bat my eyelashes every time his eyes would glance up from being locked on my chest._

_Benny narrowed his eyes at me, “Let’s keep this in the groove, hey? Smooth moves, like smooth little babies…”_

_A soft smile formed on my face as I tilted my head to the other side and giggled, “When you shot me in the head… you ran off so fast, I didn’t get your name, baby.”_

_Benny’s face twisted with confusion, one of his eyebrows cocked up, “Are you making a pass at me, sister? Because I’m out of your league.”_

_Pft… as if you could get someone like me…_

_“Is it really… so wrong to want a guy who shot me in the head?” I asked softly, caressing the top of my right breast._

_“Did those bullets scramble your egg?!” Benny exclaimed, “Or have you always been a naughty broad?”_

_I giggled again and took a step closer to him, “Girls like me, like bad boys… and you’ve been downright awful.”_

_Benny shook his head in disbelief at what he was hearing, “You’re one sick pussycat, baby. There are quins and then there’s… I don’t even know what to call you.”_

_Closing the distance between us, I placed a hand on his chest and stared up at him, biting my lip slightly before speaking, “I’m saying that I dig you… despite it all. What do you say?”_

_“I hear ‘dig’ from you, babe, and all I can think of is a shovel!” He exclaimed yet placed a hand on my hip, “How can this be? This ain’t forgiveness…it’s something… wrong.”_

_I brought my right leg up and wrapped it around Benny’s thigh, seductively. His free hand instantly snaked around under my thigh and supported my position, “I’m a courier, remember? Don’t you want me to handle your package?”_

_Benny began to chuckle slyly, “All right, honey baby. This is all kinds of wrong, but off to my suite, it is. Thirteenth floor. Don’t keep me waiting.”_

_It was official: I had completely lost my fucking mind. I gave Benny a few minutes to go up to his suite and prepare himself, while I ordered myself a shot that I would quickly throwback as I mentally prepared myself for what was about to happen._

_Given the fact that all of my weapons had been stripped from me at the door, all I had was my holdout weapon, the knife I kept tied to my thigh, safely tucked away under my skirt. This alone would have to do… if not, I could maybe smother him in his sleep…_

_When I finally made my way up to Benny’s suite, he was already pouring us two glasses of whiskey. His tie and gaudy checkered blazer were gone and his shirt was unbuttoned. He smirked at me as I entered his suite and slowly closed the door behind me._

_He turned and eyed me up and down before holding out a glass of whiskey for me to take, “Benny is gonna show you the tops! I hope you’re built sturdy, you crazy broad!”_

_Chuckling evilly, I threw back the glass of whiskey in three gulps, gasping as I pulled the glass away from my lips. The burning sensation tickled the back of my throat. A wild smile formed on the corners of my mouth as I sat the glass down and completely ripped open the front of my blouse, losing a button in the process._

_“You gonna fuck me or what?” My voice cracked._

_Benny wasted no time… he crossed the room so fast that I didn’t have any time to second guess my decision to sleep with Benny. He was a horrible kisser - the worst kisser - in the whole world. Sloppily he kissed me all the way from my mouth to my jaw, where he peppered sticky wet kisses from there to my neck. He left some purple love bites along my neck and throat before making his way down to my breasts._

_His kisses were turning me off to the point where my pussy was probably drier than the Mojave desert. I had to make him stop or this plan of stripping the man from his dignity before murdering him in his own casino would fail._

_“L-let’s see what you have been hiding under that...lovely...checkered suit,” I laughed nervously, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him away from sucking on my chest._

_Benny smirked as he unclasped my bra and immediately began to suck on my breasts, again. I cringed as he swirled his tongue around one of my nipples. Regret suddenly washing over me, wishing I would have just come into the casino guns blazing as I normally would have, instead._

_Benny lifted his head and stared into my eyes, “More than you’ve ever dreamed... Baby.”_

_Worried that his boring ‘foreplay’ would lead him to find my knife, I acted fast by shoving him down onto the bed. He purred like a fucking twisted cat as I unzipped his pants, wincing as he sprung free. Not bad for a small fucking man._

_“Oh-Woah fuck! You’re platinum, Pussycat!” he exclaimed as I wrapped my mouth around his length, “You know how to swing!”_

_I only sucked his cock for a few minutes, just to get him hard enough to get on top and get this over with._

_He smiled a toothy grin as I licked my lips and slowly climbed up on the bed, “You ready?” I asked, hovering over him._

_“Am I-”_

_Benny gasped as I lowered myself down onto his cock, leaning my head back and staring up at the ceiling as he gripped my hips and helped rock me back and forth._

_“Nice Charlies, too!” He exclaimed, admiring my bare chest. “Give them a shake for the Ben-man, will ya? Hello!”_

_As I expected, he didn’t last long. As soon as his face started to twist and he started to grunt, he pushed me off of him and grabbed a handful of my hair, forcing me down on my knees once again to take his warm seed in my mouth._

_“That was a nice bit of hey-hey, girlie,” Benny sighed a satisfied sigh as I forced myself to swallow, “You’re a real ring-a-ding broad!”_

_“Hold me, will ya? I swear you wore me out…” He trailed off as he climbed under the covers._

_Reluctantly, I fixed my skirt and crawled in beside him, and watched as he started to drift off into a deep slumber. Chewing my bottom lip, I snaked my hand under my skirt and retrieved my knife. By now, Benny was snoring obnoxiously loud._

_“I’m not one to kill a man in his sleep,” I whispered, sitting up and staring down at Benny._

_“So wake up, you fuck,” I growled in a deep, stern voice._

_Benny stirred and said something unrecognizable. I frowned, and punched him in the side of his head, knowing this would definitely get his attention._

_“W-what?!” He yawned, his eyes snapping open as I straddled his hips._

_“You should have made sure that I was dead,” I laughed as I stabbed my knife into the side of Benny’s neck._

Arcade stared at me wide-eyed as I finished telling him my story. We were approaching our destination and the sun was setting, making the sky a bright reddish-orange. It was a beautiful scenery that I hadn’t realized that I missed so dearly being away.

“...That was the most disturbing thing I have ever heard,” Arcade stated, mouth still agape.

“Eh, you asked,” I laughed.

“I suddenly regret that decision,” He retorted, joining me in on my fit of laughter.

“Follow me,” I instructed, heading towards the rocks.

“Why? And why aren’t we taking the path-” Arcade began to ask but was cut off by the sound of a nearby explosion.

Arcade hit the dirt and covered his head with his arms, “What the hell was that?!”

“I told you to follow me… and stay close,” I giggled, crouching down and offering him a hand. 

“I think I soiled myself,” He told me, voice cracking with fear.

Arcade’s chest heaved in and out as he accepted my hand. I pulled him to his feet and watched as he brushed the dirt off of himself. He jumped behind me as another explosion went off near us, rattling the ground beneath of us. 

“They really live up to their name, don’t they?!” Arcade shouted in order for me to hear him over the explosions.

“Shoulda saw them at the dam!” I yelled back, motioning him to follow behind me along the rock wall. 

“Why do I let you talk me into these things?!” he cried, following behind me.

A creepy, eerie, feeling crept upon me as we made our way towards the entrance. The feeling of being watched from afar. I knew who was watching us… Luckily, Vulpes knows better than to follow us here. 

“Son of a bitch…” I growled, knowing I’d be running into him again at some point. 

**He’s either back to claim what’s “his” or he's back to kill me.**

**Author's Note:**

> I'm Vulpes trash... that is all.


End file.
